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He is an Russian speaking scavenger, the leader of the mountain village group of the Solarii Brotherhood. In charge of rounding-up any survivors from shipwrecks, he is a brutal man, shouting out orders and killing randomly.

Lara Croft and Whitman stumble upon some scavengers of the island, who are seemingly non-hostile. Whitman decides to put down his gun, stating he wanted no trouble and wished to be brought to their leader. However Lara insisted for him to stop, getting tackled down to the ground and having her hands tied together.

The two are put into a camp with some other prisoners, however there is an attempted escape by some of the hostages. Vladimir orders all prisoners to be shot. Lara manages to escape amidst the confusion and sneaks through the camp, but is finally found by Vladimir. He grabs her and sexually harasses her, but Lara bites his ear and knees him in the groin. Her hands come free and a struggle ensues, after which Lara manages to steal his gun and shoot him in the head. He dies rather violently, twitching and gurgling blood.

He seemed to be shipwrecked with three other Russians, Nikolai, Dmitri and Boris. Since the Solarii all call themselves "brother," it is unknown if they are actually his brothers, but it is likely.

Vladimir is seen saying to Lara in Russian "You're pretty, aren't you? You remind me of my sister...". This may imply that he once had an incestuous relationship with his sister. But since he has lost his mind just like the rest of the Solarii, it's unknown if he even had a sister or not.

Vladimir was central to a controversy surrounding the game, when the trailer revealed he was involved in an attempted rape scene. Despite the connotations the scene does carry, failing his quick time event will merely result in Lara being choked to death.

In an interview with story writer Rhianna Pratchett, she explained that the scene wanted to show Lara's reactions, rather than her assailant's actions. Pratchett was critical of the way the game's trailer cut out Lara's reactions to focus on the attack rather than the aftermath, and that when seen out of context, the scene took on an entirely different meaning than was originally intended. Pratchett also expressed dismay that, as a female protagonist, Lara had been misrepresented as a victim of a sexual assault.

He is the first human killed by Lara.

He is the only member of his Russian brothers who speaks Russian and English and is the most accurately portrayed of the four.